If you are new to the APR Design® Guide and/or in the early phases of designing a new package, we recommend you follow these steps:

1. Learn about APR’s definition of recyclable.
2. Understand the four recyclability categories.
3. Select the primary body material of your package.
4. Evaluate the recyclability category of each design feature used in your package design (e.g. closures, labels, adhesives, inks, etc.).

APR firmly believes that companies want to design packaging that is recyclable and sustainable, and we are here to help you achieve this goal. Get one-on-one help through the APR Design® for Plastics Recyclability Training Program.

Important information about APR Test Methods and Recognition

The APR Design® Guide for Plastics Recyclability, and the associated APR Recognition program, do not convey any consideration by any other organization nor guarantee recognition by any other organization. APR does not share submitted data with any other organizations. Whether a company achieves APR recognition is solely dependent upon the results of an APR review of test data. If APR intellectual property is to be used as documentation or justification toward any other organization’s evaluation or recognition, no claim of APR approval or recognition may be made under such circumstances without the express written permission of APR. When data are used by other organizations outside of APR’s recognition programs, in the absence of a licensing agreement with such organizations, the APR does not give permission for its name to be used to claim, or to imply in any way, that APR has recognized or approved the design feature or innovation that was tested. APR does not recommend, advocate, or influence any other organization’s decision making in this regard.

The results of testing using APR’s Critical Guidance Test Protocols along with a Critical Guidance Technical Review are intended to qualify a company’s innovation for APR’s Critical Guidance Recognition only. The complete testing protocol process requires a review of the test results by a Technical Review Team convened by APR. If test results are not reviewed by an APR Technical Review Team, no APR recognition is possible. APR does not give permission for its name to be used to claim, or to imply in any way, that APR has recognized or approved the design feature or innovation that was tested when APR has not reviewed the test results.

Although test data generated by a company is the property of that company and may be used for other purposes besides APR Critical Guidance Recognition, the test protocols are the property of APR and APR requires that they be used as written in their entirety. It should also be noted that partial test results that may under-report negative impacts from an innovation or design feature could misrepresent APR’s intention or position and will be called out by APR when these incidents come to APR’s attention.

The APR provides Screening, Benchmark and Sortation voluntary test protocols at no charge to users as a service to the plastics packaging and recycling industries. APR does not recommend or authorize the use of its name or logo by any organization or company that uses these tests for evaluating a plastic package, innovation, or design feature for any public recognition, consumer-facing instructional label, or similar mark or communication.

How does the APR Design® Guide make an impact?

Recycling is a highly interconnected system, and the success of each stage relies on what comes before and after it in the cycle. The APR Design® Guide closes the loop between package designers and plastic recyclers with a forum allowing collaboration toward the common goal of creating a Circular Economy for plastics. APR Preferred package designs drive the Circular Economy by enabling the highest value end use applications for recycled plastic - so plastic packaging can stay in the recycling system and out of landfills and the environment.

In a circular economy, consumer product companies are their own material suppliers.

APR Preferred design for recycling supports a healthy recycling system and increases the supply of high quality PCR. Companies benefit when their packaging is not only recyclable, but also yields high quality post-consumer resin (PCR).

By minimizing contamination from the start, good design reduces unnecessary costs throughout the recycling value chain and improves productivity for plastic reclaimers. In turn, this ensures that brands are getting high-quality post-consumer resin (PCR) that meets performance requirements in their new products and packages.

Scope of the APR Design® Guide

This guide covers plastic items entering the postconsumer collection and recycling systems most widely used in industry today. Collection methods include single stream and dual stream MRFs, deposit container systems, mixed waste facilities, and grocery store rigid plastic and film collection systems. The impact of package design on automated sortation process steps employed in a single stream MRF, as well as high volume recycling processes is of primary consideration. Items recovered in systems where they are source-selected and sent to a recycler specializing in this particular item are specifically excluded from this guide.

To see APR Design Guidance in context with other important recycling system topics, review The Recycling Partnership's Pathway to Circularity: Recyclability Framework.

Package producers worldwide rely on the APR Design® Guide and the APR Global Design Catalog to create recyclable packaging. Recycling infrastructure, packaging trends, culture, and attitudes toward resource management vary regionally, even within each country. However, the principles of recyclable package design are universal.

Our vision is a world where recycling is easy – where every citizen, regardless of nationality, can recycle plastic packaging with confidence. Standardization in package design will also simplify supply chains, prevent waste, and reduce global reliance on fossil feedstocks.

APR members primarily represent North American markets. We collaborate with our counterparts around the globe to foster alignment between package designers and recyclers.

In early 2023, APR and Europe’s leading recycling non-profit, RecyClass, signed a collaboration agreement to study the alignment of our design for recycling criteria and testing protocols. While recycling systems within both the United States and the European Union are currently decentralized and fragmented, we believe that alignment with one another will accelerate progress within by removing barriers, clarifying uncertainties, and defining a common vision.